Bits and Bytes – News from the CIO
There’s a lot going on in San Leandro’s world of Tech and Innovation. So, under the Bit and Bytes heading, you’ll learn more about the opportunities for San Leandro that your CIO is working to make happen!
New San Leandro Video
By now, most of you have seen the excellent video showcasing the City of San Leandro that was released last year, San Leandro – Get Connected . We are now producing a second video — and as it was assigned to me to run with, of course the focus will be an exploration of San Leandro’s innovation ecosystem!
In this video we will focus more on the innovative businesses and entrepreneurs that have made San Leandro their home, from startups to established businesses. The video will debut at the Alameda County Conference of Mayors on December 11th, hosted by Mayor Cassidy at the Net Zero Energy Center. We begin filming next week — many thanks to the awesome San Leandro entrepreneurs and our video development team who are working at a breathtaking pace to get this done on time!
Portugal Connections to San Leandro
Through introductions by former Mayor Tony Santos, I’ve had several opportunities over the past 6 months to meet with CEO, Carlos Oliveira, of a business consulting firm, Business Leadership Group, based in Lisboa, Portugal. On the first occasion back in March, Carlos arrived with representatives of technology companies based in Angola, a country colonized by Portugal in the late 15th century. My work in San Leandro was fascinating to this group of tech-based business leaders, who all are involved in building a new fiber optic and technology infrastructure in a country torn by years of civil war. What is innovation? they wanted to know. How does a public/private partnership work, and who benefits from it? The task of building a country from the ground up is both daunting and liberating — Angola doesn’t have centuries of industrial infrastructure to dig out from!
Earlier this week, Carlos came back to renew our discussions and to explore ways of doing business in San Leandro. Along with former Mayor Santos, we toured The Gate technology center at Westgate. Carlos got it — “you are building a community here!” We agreed that we would continue the discussion on Thursday evening, when I would attend the Portugal Ventures in the Bay event in Redwood City and learn more about the entrepreneurs working to engage in the Bay Area tech ecosystem.
San Leandro by Design
Building San Leandro’s Tech and Innovation community will continue through 2 more events at The Gate and at Bayfair.
- On Friday, November 15th, San Leandro by Design will host its second New Horizons Innovation Cafe at The Gate. This event is designed primarily to build community and make connections within the developing tech/maker community within The Gate and will be a lunchtime event.
- On Thursday, December 5th, my final Meet the CIO event will join up with San Leandro by Design to host a larger early evening gathering at the Bayfair Center. The event will feature a new generation of makers — 3D printers, 3D scanners, laser cutting — and maybe some surprises! There will be food and probably beer and wine — stay tuned for details.
Do you know the names of the innovative San Leandro companies behind these images?
The big reveal, and more companies to guess, in my next blog!
It was very interesting to visit The Gate Technology Center and hear about what San Leandro is doing to reposition its economy. San Leandro is in a very dynamic process of identifying and strengthening its competitive advantages, but also of creating a stimulating ecosystem of entrepreneurship, with buzz and a brand that appeals to both entrepreneurs and investors.
This is a process that is slow and with many interdependent factors. It will not be easy, with so many competitive places in the Bay area. But San Leandro has assets to play this game: very high debit broadband width and all that comes with it, diverse, creative and stable people, an industrial base rapidly incorporating technology, a competitive spatial positioning with attractive prices and improving amenities, among others.
But most of all, San Leandro benefits from having a Chief Innovation Officer focusing on working on this process and from having in that position a dynamic, passionate and competent person like Debbie Acosta. On this line, one good strategy would be to identify and gather 10 champions, from different walks of life, that could commit to creating an impact in San Leandro in the next 10 years.
I am looking forward to seeing this process unfold into a successful case study.